House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a message for Rahm Emanuel: Barack Obama has to go through her to get things done in the House.

The California Democrat has told Emanuel, Obama’s new chief of staff, what she wants from the president-elect and his White House staff and has “set parameters,” according to Politico. And that includes no surprises or end-runs around her to cut legislative deals with moderate New Democrats or conservative Blue Dog Democrats, and details of talks the incoming administration has with any rank-and-file Democrats.

Wow, that takes some guts. But Pelosi realizes that she wields a lot of power in the House – and without her cooperation, any of Obama’s legislative missions could be tanked. It’s not that Pelosi and Obama – or Pelosi and Emanuel — aren’t on good terms, but she wants to be sure House Democrats aren’t blindsided by their president, and that they don’t just give in to any of his initiatives, no questions asked. In other words, they’re trying to avoid a repeat of the Bush administration.

But that doesn’t mean it’s all happy-happy-joy-joy between congressional Democrats and the president-elect’s team.

“There is tension. There is going to be tension,” a Democratic veteran of Capitol Hill told Politico. “She [Pelosi] wants to know what they are up to.”

Almost in the same breath, Pelosi is backing her old pal and House colleague Emanuel.

On Monday, Pelosi vouched for the integrity of Emanuel and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-IL, who have been caught up in the probe of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s alleged attempt to sell Obama’s Senate seat.

“I know them. I think they haven’t,” Pelosi said Monday, according to The Hill. “I don’t know of the particulars of what Mr. Jackson was doing … But I do know that they’re both people who are very honorable and served in Congress with great integrity.”

An impeachment inquiry into Blagojevich is scheduled to get underway in the Illinois House on Tuesday.